The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and on 4 June 2004 in North America, as the first Harry Potter film released into IMAX theatres and to be using IMAX Technology. It is also the last Harry Potter film to be released on VHS as well as the last film until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be rated PG in North America. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards—Original Music Score and Visual Effects—at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.
Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $796.6 million worldwide, with its box office performance ranking as the lowest-grossing in the series. However, it was, at the time, the most highly acclaimed film of the series, and is widely considered by critics and fans to be the best installment of the franchise.
h4>Filming
Loch Shiel, where scenes from Prisoner of Azkaban were filmed.
Principal photography began on 24 February 2003, at Leavesden Film Studios, and concluded in October 2003.
Some sets for the film were built in Glen Coe, Scotland, near the Clachaig Inn. The indoor sets, including ones built for the previous two films, are mainly in Leavesden Film Studios. The Hogwarts Lake was filmed from Loch Shiel, Loch Eilt and Loch Morar in the Scottish Highlands. Incidentally, the train bridge, which was also featured in the Chamber of Secrets, is opposite Loch Shiel and was used to film the sequences when the Dementor boarded the train. A small section of the triple-decker bus scene, where it weaves in between traffic, was filmed in North London’s Palmers Green. Some parts were also filmed in and around Borough Market and Lambeth Bridge in London.
The Honeydukes set in this film is a redress of the set of Flourish & Blotts that was seen in Chamber of Secrets, which, in turn, was a redress of the Ollivanders set from the first film.
Rowling allowed Cuarón to make minor changes to the book, on the condition that he stuck to the book’s spirit. She allowed him to place a sundial on Hogwarts’ grounds, but rejected a graveyard, as that would play an important part in the then unreleased sixth book. Rowling said she “got goosebumps” when she saw several moments in the film, as they inadvertently referred to events in the final two books, she stated “people are going to look back on the film and think that those were put in deliberately as clues.” When filming concluded, Cuarón found that it had “been the two sweetest years of my life,” and expressed his interest in directing one of the sequels.
Effects
Cuarón originally wanted to move away from CGI toward puppetry. He hired master underwater puppeteer Basil Twist to help, using puppets to study the potential movement of the Dementors. Once it became apparent that puppetry would be too expensive and unable to portray the specific elements of the Dementors, Cuarón turned to CGI; however, he and his team did use footage of Dementor puppets underwater as a basis for the flowing movements of the computer-generated Dementors.
The Knight Bus segment when Harry is being taken to The Leaky Cauldron uses the technique known as bullet time, popularised in The Matrix series of films. This segment takes humorous advantage of the magic quality of the Harry Potter world by having the Muggle world go into bullet time while inside the Knight Bus, Harry, Stan Shunpike and Ernie Prang (and the talking shrunken head) keep moving in real time.
Music
The Academy Award-nominated score was the third and final score in the series to be composed and conducted by John Williams. It was released on CD on 25 May 2004. In general, this film’s music is not as bright as that of the previous films, with distinct medieval influences in the instrumentation. One of the new themes, “Double Trouble,” was written during production so that a children’s choir could perform it in Hogwarts’s Great Hall in one of the film’s earlier scenes. The lyrics of “Double Trouble” are from a ritual performed by the Weïrd Sisters in Act 4, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The film’s trailer prominently features the cues “Anticipation” and “Progeny” by Brand X Music, a trailer music band.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters
Screenplay by: Steve Kloves
Production Design by: Stuart Craig
Cinematography by: Michael Seresin
Film Editing by: Steven Weisberg
Costume Design by: Jany Temime
Set Decoration by: Stephenie McMillan
Art Direction: Andrew Ackland-Snow, Alan Gilmore, Neil Lamont
MPAA Rating: PG for frightening moments, creature violence and mild language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 4, 2004
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